Chapter 133 Merfolk Shore
Jian Qingrong didn’t really want to challenge the game. He stood calmly in front of Wen Shi, but his gaze slightly shifted, as if he didn’t dare to meet his eyes.
Wen Shi could feel that there was a hint of anticipation beneath the fleeting glance.
Similar to a peacock spreading its feathers to show its beauty, Jian Qingrong purposely brought him here not mainly to watch the game, but to demonstrate his new ability.
“N-not bad,” Wen Shi’s tone was a bit unclear as he added, “Quite an impressive skill.”
Jian Qingrong had never received such straightforward compliment in his life. His ears slightly reddened, an unusual flush creeping up.
Wen Shi looked at him deeply. “You never know, someday you’ll become the most feared being among all monsters.”
Considering the circumstances, even monsters didn’t want to be purified.
Somehow, when hearing the words “most feared being,” Jian Qingrong’s heart momentarily skipped a beat.
Suddenly, everything around him went pitch-black. In the darkness, he could make out a person at the center, fast asleep. This person’s presence seemed to deter the distant lurking creatures. Those creatures, with wild, fearful eyes, hesitated, like hungry wolves unsure whether to challenge a well-armed hunter.
A delicate balance formed between the two sides.
The person with closed eyes seemed to sense something and slightly turned his head in Jian Qingrong’s direction.
In the instant before their eyes were about to meet, Jian Qingrong heard someone calling his name in his ear.
Everything disappeared, and he woke up with a start, a strong palpitation causing cold sweat to break out on his back. Jian Qingrong saw the worried look in Wen Shi’s eyes.
“Are you okay?”
He shook his head. “It’s probably because when I intervened just now, I was a bit disturbed by a malevolent spirit.”
Continuing to ascend, they reached the rooftop of the unfinished building. Standing there, the view instantly became broader.
His night vision ability was still intact, but from this far distance, the view wasn’t very clear.
The mini octopus transformed back to its mimetic state, crawling onto Wen Shi’s shoulder and watching alongside him. It pointed at a rapidly moving dot. “Principal.”
This indicated that the principal had already broken free from Ji Yuanzhi and Chubby Guy, and was heading to stop the last remaining body part from being devoured.
Wen Shi found a place to sit down. The side effects of his HP hitting zero hadn’t completely worn off. He let out a tired yawn.
Jian Qingrong: “Rest in the dorm?”
Wen Shi waved his hand.
The dorm building was still quite a distance away. He didn’t feel like going back and forth, plus it might not be very peaceful inside the dormitory building.
Jian Qingrong moved closer, allowing him to lean against him. The mini octopus took charge of keeping watch.
Under the long-lost sense of security, Wen Shi’s eyelids drooped quickly. Just as he was about to doze off, he suddenly heard the mini octopus say, “They’ve started fighting!”
Wen Shi opened one eye. The battleground wasn’t too far from here.
The merfolk’s real forms were all quite massive. The principal arrived a bit late. After the devouring was complete, Mr. Ruan transformed into a nearly three-meter-tall merfolk and was engaged in a fight with the principal.
Strangely, this size advantage didn’t last long. The merfolk’s body began to shrink, as if maintaining such a form was difficult.
Wen Shi instantly became more awake. “It seems like the principal can control the merfolk.”
Jian Qingrong nodded. “It’s normal to evolve special powers after turning into a monster.”
Wen Shi thought that compared to Jian Qingrong’s purification ability, everything else seemed ordinary. He then brought up another matter.
“Earlier, underwater, I saw your shadow. It took away a fish scale.”
When the word “shadow” came up, Wen Shi felt a subtle uncertainty. There was simply no resemblance between Jian Qingrong and his shadow.
Giving away the heart would be something Jian Qingrong might do, but it didn’t fit the behavior logic of a shadow. Originally, Wen Shi had planned to discuss this matter in detail during the tea party.
Jian Qingrong’s eyes dimmed slightly after hearing it, but he didn’t react much.
To him, those things could all be categorized as external matters. He would figure out how to deal with it when they met.
While the two chatted, the mini octopus excitedly watched the “match” on its own. It seemed to really enjoy watching people fight.
“The principal actually carries a dagger with him. He used a slick feint and stabbed through Mr. Ruan’s waist. Mr. Ruan fought back! The principal’s palm was sliced by a strand of hair.”
Wen Shi looked at it with a hint of amusement.
The mini octopus made a speculation about the outcome, “Arlon is waiting for both sides to weaken each other, only to let Mr. Ruan deals the final blow with his remaining strength.”
Having been bullied by Jian Qingrong for so long, witnessing the weak triumph over the strong had become the scene the mini octopus most wanted to watch.
While patting its head, Wen Shi suspected that its brains had gone wandering again.
Jian Qingrong said coldly, “Not worth the bother.”
The mini octopus, well aware of its lower intelligence compared to Jian Qingrong’s, decided to let its brain take a break.
Wen Shi sighed and continued to doze off. “Wake me when it’s almost over.”
The mini octopus rubbed against his shoulder. “Okay.”
Sleepiness welled up again. After an unknown amount of time had passed, Wen Shi woke up to find himself draped in clothing. Jian Qingrong remained in the same position. He checked the time and realized two hours had gone by.
“Still not over?”
The mini octopus was full of energy. “It’s almost done. They’ve beaten each other up beyond recognition.”
“……”
That description was a bit exaggerated. In reality, it was due to the blood covering their bodies. The principal and the merfolk were covered in a gory mess.
Wen Shi stood up. “Let’s go.”
It was about time to intervene. Things should come to an end.
The clouds outside dispersed, revealing the moon completely. The metallic tang in the usual air was washed away by the scent of blood.
Managing the senior students was easy. Just a declaration of expulsion could make them obediently follow the dorm management’s orders. Except for the new students’ dormitory building, most people, no matter how scared or curious, would simply bury their heads in their blankets.
Wen Shi greatly admired these students’ mental resilience.
Before approaching, heavy panting could be heard.
Ahead, Mr. Ruan clutched a bloody hole in his chest and sneered, “You’re out of options. Your entire family should’ve paid for the sins you’ve committed against merfolk long ago.”
The principal’s expression turned dark, as he tried to regulate his breathing to find an opportunity to counterattack.
Wen Shi stood still and watched silently for a while before interrupting Mr. Ruan’s speech. “You should say that everything he meticulously planned will turn to nothing.”
Both Mr. Ruan and the principal raised their heads simultaneously. In the darkness, as Wen Shi walked forward, he continued, “Then scold him for being a fool. Even though a higher-level merfolk was right beside him, he was still desperately searching.”
Struck at a sensitive point, the principal’s gaze finally flickered.
Suddenly, Wen Shi smiled with great pleasure. “I heard that the school wanted to fill the lake not too long ago. You noticed the anomalies in that lake, but you only took note of the water plants that could help merfolk walk painlessly. However, the heart was hidden deep in the lake.”
Upon hearing “heart,” the principal couldn’t hold back any longer and blurted out, “You…”
Wen Shi sighed. “You’re right, I took away the heart. Sadly, you’ll never know the role I played in this matter until the end.”
The principal’s expression changed, his peripheral vision scanning the surroundings, though he wasn’t entirely convinced. What concerned him more now was something else—there had been two almost successful attempts to kill the merfolk earlier, and both times, it seemed like a special force had thwarted his efforts.
Could there be an accomplice?
This thought was instantly quashed. An accomplice must have already come to help.
Cursing the school’s useless individuals in his mind, the principal thought to himself. Among others, Lily had yet to show up until now.
The Merfolk King’s heart had one advantage: it could slow his heartbeat significantly. Even in this life-or-death situation, the principal was still contemplating breaking free.
Struggling to suppress the power in his heart, the principal’s muscles bulged as he chose a direction to charge towards.
Gathering strength for less than three seconds, the Wandering Corpse, appearing out of nowhere, stood in the direction he was about to dash.
“Interactive drama performance,” the Wandering Corpse casually dropped the words, and a hint of anticipation appeared on its inhuman face. It was as if any place was a stage to it.
Then, surprisingly, it slowly pulled out half of the Merfolk King’s heart from the right side of its chest. This was the heart that had almost ended up in Wen Shi’s palm, unable to fully integrate with the Wandering Corpse.
Holding half of the heart in one hand, the Wandering Corpse motioned towards the principal with the other hand, playfully suggesting, “Chomp, chomp, chomp.”
“……”
Just like teasing a dog.
Gasping heavily in his heavily injured state, the principal endured and endured, but he couldn’t hold back any longer, finally spewing out a mouthful of blood.
Right in front of him, the Wandering Corpse put the heart back in.
Feeling several hidden gazes simultaneously turning towards him from the shadows, Wen Shi found himself at a loss for words.
Truly, he hadn’t orchestrated this.
At a certain distance away, Arlon, who had controlled the situation from afar earlier, quirked the corner of his mouth, catching sight of the mirror beside him: 【666】.
The amusement instantly solidified.
If it weren’t a friend of his little brother, he would have really wanted to smash that mirror. It seemed it only knew how to knock out sixes.
The principal didn’t give up the last shred of hope. Ignoring the torn wounds on his body, he changed direction with agility and charged forward. At the same time, Arlon’s spiritual form leapt and pounced, forcefully pinning the principal beneath his claw. The unforgiving pads of flesh on Arlon’s paw pressed against the principal’s back, breaking two ribs. The principal gritted his teeth and struggled.
Arlon grew impatient with waiting any longer. “Someone finish it.”
Mr. Ruan was no less wary of Arlon than the principal. He didn’t move immediately. It was Jian Qingrong, standing in the area the dilapidated streetlamp couldn’t reach, who suddenly took a step towards the principal.
Wen Shi covered the mini octopus’ eyes.
The mini octopus had a puzzled expression.
Completely devoid of any intention to kill, Jian Qingrong walked up to the struggling principal, ready to test his skill and see if he could purify this type of creature.
The heavily injured principal, ignoring the agony of his broken ribs, had a rough black line pulled out from his temple. At first glance, it looked like a nerve being yanked.
The surroundings were eerily quiet. The mini octopus finally realized that this outcome was different from its prediction! It wanted to witness the weak triumph over the strong.
Wen Shi could only gently stroke its head with his palm to reassure it.
The strong fishy smell accompanied the black line, and after being completely extracted, Jian Qingrong reached out and pinched it, causing it to vanish in mid-air. Despite being covered in blood and flesh, the principal almost seemed like an empty shell, falling to the ground silently.
The mirror finally stopped spamming sixes and began to show off its archaic internet language: 【Feels like his body’s been emptied.】
Jian Qingrong’s peripheral vision glanced at the heavily injured Mr. Ruan and then turned to Wen Shi.
“Do you want to kill him?”
Wen Shi shook his head.
Going overboard wasn’t necessary. He was now aligned with the merfolk’s faction. He had already severely injured one using his sword skill earlier, and killing another might trigger unforeseen consequences.
Based on his understanding of the game, a new balance between merfolk and humans was likely what the game desired. Considering Mr. Ruan’s current injuries, a full recovery would take a long time. By then, he could be reactivated as an instance.
Sometimes, it was wise to go with the game’s flow.
Footsteps approached from ahead.
Ji Yuanzhi didn’t arrive earlier for some reason. Although he looked just the same as usual, Wen Shi sensed a trace of gloominess in his eyes behind the lenses.
Seeing the principal lying on the ground like a mess, Ji Yuanzhi put on a pair of black gloves and walked over. He unceremoniously opened the chest and retrieved half of the heart, placing it into a box.
No one contested him. It was almost a tacit agreement beforehand. One half of the heart each, he and Wen Shi shared that understanding.
While marveling at Ji Yuanzhi’s well-equipped state, Wen Shi received the completion sound of a system prompt:
“Congratulations on successfully aiding the merfolk by killing the principal. The rewards for your faction choice will be settled after the instance concludes.”
“Finally, it’s about to end,” Wen Shi sighed with relief. All he wanted was to take in a gulp of normal, fresh air.
By chance, Wen and Ji Yuanzhi’s gazes met in mid-air, and the latter seemed surprised as he asked, “Why aren’t you back in the dorm sleeping?”
Wen Shi: “……”
Repeatedly claiming I have no use, then telling me to laze around like a salted fish.
Do you know how much I’ve been worried for all of you throughout the night?
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